Influence of Heat Stress, Variations in Soil Type, and Soil Amendment on the Growth of Three Drought–Tolerant Maize Varieties

Uchechukwu Paschal Chukwudi,Funso Raphael Kutu,Sydney Mavengahama

doi:10.3390/agronomy11081485

Uchechukwu Paschal Chukwudi, Funso Raphael Kutu + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11081485

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Abstract

Food security in sub–Saharan Africa is threatened by the increasing incidence of heat stress. Therefore, ameliorating heat stress influence in plants is vital for sustainable crop production. A 2 × 3 × 3 × 2 factorial experiment fitted into a completely randomized design with four replications was performed. The factors were heat stress, maize variety, soil amendment, and soil type. The results showed that heat stress exerted a depressive effect on maize growth and yield attributes. It reduced the leaf chlorophyll content, leaf area, plant height, stem diameter, dry biomass yield, and harvest index by 35%, 36%, 41%, 59%, and 78%, respectively. Sandy clay loam soil provided a better maize growth condition than loamy sand soil. Organic manure soil amendment improved maize growth attributes over the mineral fertilizer in the non–heat–stress environment and ameliorated the negative impact of heat stress in the heat–stress environment. The ranking of the attributes identified leaf area, dry biomass yield, stem diameter, and plant height as the most discriminating and representative attributes. These attributes should be considered in maize development projects for heat–stress prone areas. Selection of appropriate maize variety and accompanying soil amendment should be integrated into food security strategy as they influenced maize growth and yield under (non–)heat–stress conditions.

Highlights

Maize (Zea mays L.) is the third most important cereal crop based on the harvested area [1]
Significant variations in growth and yield attributes were observed within and among the maize varieties when grown under different conditions
Heat stress exerted a depressive effect on the maize plant growth and yield attributes

Summary

Introduction

Maize (Zea mays L.) is the third most important cereal crop based on the harvested area [1]. It is the most important cereal crop in South Africa [2] and represented the largest contributor to the gross value of field crops in South Africa from 2011/2012 to the 2015/2016 seasons [3]. South Africa has a semi-arid climate that has experienced significant changes in rainfall intensity and minimum and maximum temperatures in recent years [6,7,8]. Jury [6] reported that the climate of South Africa has warmed significantly by over 0.02 ◦C·yr−1 from 1980 to 2014. The potential for high–temperature incidences to worsen in the future was reported [12], exposing plants to heat stress with a threat to current and future global maize production [13,14,15]

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